Gomer Society, Tributes and Cheese
by Jayne Leigh
Summary: Josh wants to do something for Leo. Set during Santos Admin Please review


**Hey, here****'s a standalone fic set during the Santos Administration. Please review and let me know what you think!!! Get my profile out for a new poll. Also, you can now bug me on Twitters about updates!!! **

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**Gomer Society, Tributes and Cheese **

Sam sat in the Roosevelt Room with a cup of coffee in his hand and a newspaper spread across the table. Josh wanted the Senior Staff to meet there this morning and Sam was early so he took the rare opportunity to relax for a while before the day's madness started.

He couldn't believe how fast the time had gone. President Santos had been in office for a year and two months now and so far everything had been going fine aside from some small problems.

It felt a little weird that he wasn't working in Communications and Lou Thornton had threatened him several times with grievous bodily harm if he went anywhere near her speeches again.

Once he remembered that Josh's old office was now his office, he enjoyed watching the staff getting used to their new jobs. He saw them wondering around the building looking for the right room where their meeting we being held. He remembered that feeling of being lost and having no idea what you're doing but then he also remembered what it was like to have a good day and how it felt when everything fell into place. So, he had sat back and let them find their own way. Plus it had been fun to watch Otto missing lunch for the first two weeks because he could never find the Mess on time.

The thing that most surprised him was Josh. Sam always knew that he was good at his job but he could see there was a big difference between Josh 'the Deputy Chief of Staff' to Josh 'the Chief of Staff.'

He was a lot calmer then Sam ever thought he could be. He managed the staff well even when they screwed up. What amazed him the most was how well he had learnt to juggle his job and personal life…It amazed Sam that he had a personal life. Unless there was some kind of incident, Josh would leave every night before 8pm at the latest and only worked half days on Saturdays and took most Sundays off. Sam put it down to his relationship with Donna. He didn't realised it was possible but the two of them seemed even closer then before and Sam couldn't be happier for his two best friends. They had gotten married three months after the inauguration in a small ceremony with just their closest friends and family. Now they were expecting their first child; Donna was due in two months. It completely and utterly amazed Sam how content Josh seemed now and how good he was at being Chief of Staff, husband and father.

"Sam?" Lou asked, breaking his train of thoughts. "What's all this about?"

"I don't know," Sam replied, looking up and frowning when he saw that the room was filling up with more then just senior staff. "Donna?"

"Hey, Sam," she smiled, as her and Annabeth sat beside him.

"What are you doing here?" He questioned.

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this for the world." She let out a small laugh.

"Miss what?" He asked but Donna just smiled and stayed silent. "Donna? Miss what?"

"Why do I feel like we're being set up?" Otto asked aloud from the other side of the table. "It is the 1st of March, right? Not April?"

"You think Josh would only mess with us on April Fools Day?" Lou asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Umm, no?"

She rolled her eyes and went back to reading. "Whatever he has planned, I hope he gets on with it…Some of us have work to do."

Sam leaned back in his chair, a small frown on his face. Donna was acting weird…Josh had obviously told her what was going on and at least she was smiling about it so it couldn't be that bad.

He glanced around the room, Otto and Bram sat together trying to come up with a reason for why they were all there. Margaret was in the corner of the room with the other assistants, Ginger, Carol, Bonny and Ronna. They were all looking through some folders, giggling about something…

"Oh my god!" Sam exclaimed, loudly causing everyone to turn to face him.

"Sam? Are you okay?" Donna questioned.

"It's the first of the month…"

"Yeah…"

"Donna, tell me he's isn't going to do what I think he's going to do."

"What is he going to do?" Otto asked just as Josh entered the room.

"Okay, guys…lets get this started."

"Josh…" Sam stood up and walked towards him.

"Take a seat, Sam…You're not going to want to miss this."

"Just think about what you're about to start…"

"During President Bartlet's term, we had a tradition…"

"Josh, don't do this!" Sam tried to cut in but Josh wasn't listening.

"Andrew Jackson, in the main foyer in his White House had a big block of cheese…"

"Oh, he's gone and done it." Sam dropped into an empty chair.

"The block of cheese was huge--over two tons. And it was there for any and all who might be hungry…"

"What the hell?" Lou asked.

The staff that had worked in the Bartlet Administration's, all groaned, knowing what was coming. Sam let his head fall down and hit the table. While the newer members of staff stared at Josh with a mixture of confusion and curiosity.

"Jackson wanted the White House to belong to the people, so from time to time, he opened his doors to those who wished an audience…." Josh continued, ignoring any comments and moans. "It is in the spirit of Andrew Jackson that I'm asking staff to have face-to-face meetings with those people representing organizations who have a difficult time getting our attention."

"You're kidding, right?" Bram stared at him.

"No, Margaret will hand out your appointments."

"Josh!" Lou exclaimed. "Do you know what kind of nut jobs we're going to get?"

"I know exactly what kind of nut jobs we're going to get," he replied. "Besides, that's all part of the fun."

"Fun?!" Sam lifted his head and glared at him. "You were the one that named it crackpot day!"

"Josh!" Lou yelled louder when Margaret handed her a folder. "Why the hell would I want to meet with a group who want to make Mickey Mouse's birthday a national holiday!?"

"For the experience?"

"THIS IS THE WHITE HOUSE!"

"Margaret is a pro at matching up these appointment with the right staffer so I'm sure you'll enjoy it…" Josh started but then remembered how Margaret used to decided who had what assignment. "And if not, I'm sure you've done something to deserve what you've got."

"What the hell does that mean?" Lou glared at him.

"Be nicer to my assistant."

"I got one left." Margaret announced.

"You haven't given me, mine yet…" Donna pointed out.

"Yeah but it's the Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle Society," Margaret answered but was looking at Josh.

"So?" He shrugged. "Donna likes Turtles."

"I met with them before as well," Donna added and held out her hand. "It'll be good to see if they've made any progress."

"Didn't the President of the society ask you out?" Margaret questioned, handing over the folder.

"Well, it'll be good to catch up with Marcus too," she grinned teasingly, noticing the look on Josh's face.

"Sweetheart…Hi, remember me?!" He said sarcastically.

"Relax, Josh…I'm sure when he see this…" she placed her hands on her pregnant stomach. "He'll realise, I'm off limits."

"Even still…" He reached over and took the folder off her and swapped it with Annabeth's. "Here, you take the Gomer-boy Society."

"The Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle Society," Margaret corrected.

"Whatever, now that's sorted lets get going…"

"This is crazy!" Lou protested again. "This isn't High School…This is the White House!"

"Yeah, so go to the meeting, listen to them, smile and then give them a pen with the Presidential seal on it…" Josh replied. "Come on, guys…it's a good thing."

"I think it's pretty cool," Otto added. "In fact my meeting is right now…So, I'll see you all later."

"What have you got?" Bram questioned.

"I'm meeting some professional wrestlers."

"I'll trade you."

"Why? What you got?"

"An all boys dance group looking for funding to go to a competition in Sydney."

"No way."

"Aw come on…"

Everyone watched as the pair left, still arguing.

"Do you think I should have explained that WWF stands for World Wildlife Federation?" Margaret looked over at Josh.

"Nah," he laughed. "He's a bright kid, he'll figure it out."

"Are you kidding me? This is the guy who couldn't find the mess for the first two weeks," Lou pointed out.

"That's a good point."

"So, you're seriously not expecting us to do this right?" She asked, holding up her folder.

"Yes, Lou… it's an hour and besides, who knows you might actually end up enjoying yourself."

"I really don't believe that will ever happen," she muttered as she followed the rest of the staff as they began to file out.

"Big block of cheese day?" Sam finally lifted his head and looked at Josh when there was no one left but the two of them, Margaret and Donna.

"It's the first of the month," Josh shrugged.

"So?!"

"So, it's for Leo."

"Oh." Sam fell silent for a moment. "But big block of cheese day?!"

"Get real, Sam…you loved it!" Josh grinned. "The U.F.O guy, he got you interested."

"I guess…"

"And I gave you a good assignment."

Sam opened his folder and read aloud. "Frank Hollis Charity Organization with Claudia Jean Cregg?"

"She was busy dealing with the end of the administration and then you were busy with the transition and all so I figured you could use to the opportunity to catch up."

"You set up a meeting for me with C.J on big block of cheese day?"

"Perks of being the Deputy…you get the good assignments."

"I still can't believe you of all people would do this, though," Sam replied.

"He's changed," Margaret shrugged then looked up from the folder. "In a good way."

Josh smiled and put an arm around Donna's waist. "I needed to do it."

"For Leo?"

"He would have hated all that fuss that was made…all those tributes…" Josh replied. "He'd appreciate Big Block of Cheese Day."

Sam smiled slightly and gave a small nod. "Yeah, he would have."

"Right, so prepare to have more of these, okay?"

"Okay." He grinned. "And thanks for setting me up with C.J…it'll be good to catch up with her."

"Hey, no problem but I feel I should warn you…" Josh started. "She knows it's Big Block of Cheese Day."

"Yeah, so…" He started but then trailed off. "She's going to give me hell, isn't she?"

"Oh yeah," Josh laughed and slapped his shoulder as he headed for the door with Donna and Margaret. "Have fun!"

"You know, I really do hate you sometimes!" He called after them.

"Oh come, Sam…it wouldn't be total crackpot day if you're not in hell!"

"I hate this day!" He said to himself before starting to gather up his stuff.

**The End!!! **

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